Federal Issues & Priorities

Below is information on some of the major federal issues that impact the University of Illinois System.

Priorities for the 118th Congress

In January 2023, U of I System President Tim Killeen sent a handout to the Illinois Congressional delegation outlining the system's federal priorities for the 118th Congress (2023-24).

Higher Education Act (HEA)

The U of I System is committed to enhancing affordability, completion, innovation, accountability, and transparency. As Congress considers proposals to reauthorize HEA, the U of I System is ensuring that our priorities are heard and taken into consideration. Below are some of our top priorities:

Simplifying loan repayment options and eliminating direct loan origination fees.
Doubling the maximum Pell Grant award.

More than 21,000 of our students – a third of all undergraduates – benefit from Pell Grants. The U of I System is supporting #DoublePell, a national campaign urging Congress to double the investment in Pell to increase the maximum award to $13,000. Read more about how Pell has made a difference in our students' lives.
In September 2021, the U of I System led a letter with Illinois' public universities to the Illinois delegation urging them to double the maximum Pell Grant award to $13,000 and support increasing the award upcoming budget reconciliation legislation.

Maintaining graduate student loan options, strong repayment terms, and loan forgiveness benefits that put graduate and professional studies within reach for all interested students.
Protecting the TRIO and GEAR UP programs, which encourage and support access for low-income and first-generation students to higher education.

The U of I System's three universities are members of national associations that have developed priorities for HEA reauthorization. View APLU's priorities.

Appropriations

Federal support allows U of I System faculty and students to conduct groundbreaking research that drives innovation and economic growth. Accordingly, the U of I System supports robust federal funding for research and discovery. Read more below about the U of I System's appropriations priorities for Fiscal Year 2025.

Fiscal Year 2025 Programmatic Requests

Advocacy for Science Funding

Congress recognized the crucial role that federal science agencies like NSF and DOE play in advancing innovation and competitiveness when it passed the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022. Unfortunately, funding has since been far below the levels authorized in that legislation.

In April 2024, President Killeen sent a letter to the Illinois congressional delegation expressing concerns about recently enacted cuts to NSF funding. You can read the letter here.
In May 2024, the University of Illinois System led a letter that garnered the support of 59 of Illinois’ higher education institutions, businesses, associations, and nonprofits advocating for robust funding for the National Science Foundation. You can read the letter here.

Health

The University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI Health) consists of a 495-bed tertiary and quaternary care hospital, 40 outpatient and specialty locations, Mile Square Health Center facilities, and seven health science colleges. UI Health's top federal priorities include:

Maintaining access to affordable healthcare
Protecting Medicaid for vulnerable and underserved populations
Protecting Medicare payments to hospital outpatient departments
Protecting vital support for medical education and training to continue to educate the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Maintaining vital resources that help vulnerable patients through the 340B drug pricing program
Supporting efforts to delay reductions to disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments

Read more about UI Health and its federal priorities.

Immigration

The U of I System is working to encourage Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes the DREAM Act and expands visa and citizenship opportunities for STEM graduates. The U of I System has supported efforts to, at a minimum, codify the protections of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) into law.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

On June 18, 2020, U of I System leadership sent a massmail to students, faculty, and staff after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a bid to end DACA and ruled that proper procedures were not followed in the President’s executive order to rescind the program.
On June 3, 2019, President Killeen sent a letter to the Illinois delegation urging support for H.R. 2820, the DREAM Act of 2019, which would ensure that talented undocumented Illinoisans who came to the U.S. as children can continue to make positive contributions to our state and nation.

International Students

International students from dozens of countries are integral to the globally connected U of I System. Enriching our three universities and greatly enhancing the educational experience for all students. The U of I System is committed to supporting international students and protecting their access to the world-class education and opportunities provided by our three universities. This includes advocating for timely processing of F-1, J-1 and H-B visas, and supporting legislative and regulatory efforts to preserve and protect high-skilled immigration programs.

National Quantum Initiative Act (NQIA) Reauthorization

The U of I System is home to deep expertise in quantum information science research, education and workforce development. As Congress considers the reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative Act (NQIA), the U of I System supports a science-first approach that continues the progress made since the legislation was first enacted in 2018. Specific priorities can be found in the U of I System’s NQIA priorities summary.

Prior Legislative Issues

Tax Reform

During debate on comprehensive tax reform legislation in 2017—H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)—the U of I System opposed provisions that would have been damaging to higher education, students, and the U of I System. On December 7, 2017, U of I President Tim Killeen sent a letter to the House and Senate tax reform conferees expressing concerns about those provisions. Read more about how those provisions would make higher education less affordable and undermine the University's ability to promote economic growth and opportunity here.

While the final version of TCJA did not include several of the provisions of greatest concern, it did include some tax changes that negatively impact higher education. The U of I System strongly supports repeal of the new unrelated business income tax (UBIT) on transportation and parking fringe benefits for tax-exempt organizations. Previously, employees from across the U of I System could have money deducted from their paychecks tax-free and it would be applied to parking/transit benefits. Had the U of I System continued to provide this benefit post-TCJA, we would have had to pay an additional estimated 2019 tax bill of around $2.5 million. Instead, approximately 16,000 employees across the U of I System who had received this benefit are no longer able to deduct parking/transit fees pre-tax. The U of I System also supports efforts to fix TCJA's changes to the so-called "kiddie tax" that harms certain low- and middle-income students who rely on scholarship aid to pay for their college education.

COVID-19

The U of I System has joined the broader higher education community in advocating for increased federal support for students and universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leading up to the final agreement on a third emergency supplemental funding bill, U of I System leadership sent a letter to the Illinois congressional delegation urging them to ensure that the emergency package included essential relief for students and institutions of higher education. The U of I System also led three letters from Illinois' public universities to the state's congressional delegation asking for continued support and additional federal resources in response to the pandemic. See the April 2020 letter, the July 2020 letter, and the January 2021 letter.

Additionally, the U of I System's Illinois Connection program sent out two Calls to Action (CTA) to alumni, students, faculty, and staff encouraging them to ask their federal legislators to support more funding for higher ed and students. Read the April CTA and the July CTA.

Infrastructure

The U of I System supports increased federal investments in the country's pressing infrastructure needs, including enhancing campus and research infrastructure, which has endured many years of insufficient capital investment and deferred maintenance. The U of I System also supports efforts taking the following steps to advance these priorities.

In November 2021, the U of I System released a summary of the bipartisan infrastructure law and provisions of interest to the U of I System.
In July 2021, the U of I System led a letter with Illinois' public universities to the Illinois delegation urging them to endorse the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and Association of State Colleges and Universities' proposal for $48 billion to support state investments in university infrastructure.
In July 2021, the U of I System sent a memo to Illinois delegation offices outlining the effects of deferred maintenance backlogs at our three universities.